Round 2: Day Eight.

In theory, day eight began my completely sugar free existence. My dessert free buffer week has ended; I now become a slave to reading labels. However, day eight was also the last day of the parental visit and a free breakfast at the Golden Nugget meant partaking of both ketchup and syrup, both of which I'm sure included not only sugar, but corn syrup as well. But, everything in moderation.

Speaking of ingredients lists, the recent Trader Joe's shopping spree left me with a variety of sweet treats which involve brown rice syrup. I've heard of this ingredient before since I spent hours looking for the ingredient during last year's experiment, but I've never fully researched it's differences and benefits. So here goes:

According to Bodyandfitness.com, brown rice syrup "is made by adding a small amount of sprouted rice or barley to cooked brown rice. The rice is then strained and cooked, becoming a golden syrup with a butterscotch flavor. It is about half as sweet as sugar, and, as with barley malt syrup, complex carbohydrates inhibit dramatic shifts in blood sugar levels."

So in other words, like agave nectar, brown rice syrup helps to avoid the blood sugar spike that causes so many of sugar's problems. That's enough for me to enjoy my organic granola bars with their brown rice syrup sweetness.